In Knead of a massage?

When people think of looking after their body, they tend to think of pounding it on the treadmill or working up a sweat in a gym class.

But did you know that a good massage is just as good for your body as it is for your mental well being?

And for athletes a regular massage is considered almost as essential to keeping the body in condition as diet and training.

After all, the kind of deep-tissue massage practised by registered sports massage therapists promises to increase blood flow to aching muscles and flush out waste products such as lactic acid after a hard workout.

Unfortunately a lot of us mistakenly think that massages are a self-indulgent luxury and only treat ourselves to one once in a blue moon.

Yet in some countries, like India and Thailand, a massage forms part of their everyday life.

But back to reality, and in today’s economic climate, a massage still remains a rare luxury for most of us, as we are reluctant to untie the purse strings any time soon to fork out for a year’s supply of massages.

Fortunately you may not have to, because there is a brand new massage tool on the market- The Kneader.

It offers pretty much everybody the method and means to perform relaxing massage on themselves or others.

The Kneader is the brainchild of Una Tucker, a professional opera singer turned massage therapist.

Frustrated she couldn’t find any suitable massage tools to recommend to her clients for use in between treatments, she designed her own.

As a keen runner, I tend to get quite tight hamstrings, so I thought I’d give it a go.

The tool does not resemble anything like what I expected a massage device to look like.

An image of a wooden rolling pin type roller with grooves is what I had conjured up in mind.

No, this is made of acrylic, so it’s durable and washable, and is shaped like the palm of a hand with holes to place fingers in should you want to use it in that manner.

Clearly I’m no expert in these matters, so it was handy to have clear written instructions.

And if you’re already in the relaxing mode and reading instructions seems like a wee bit hard work, then it’s handy to watch the DVD demo that comes along with it.

I was able to use the tool in quite a few places by myself – the legs, thighs, hips, tummy, neck and shoulders – and found it very therapeutic. Even five minutes made a difference.

I was able to use it over my clothes while I watched TV too!

However, it can be used directly on the skin with massage oils as well as with soap and water in the shower.

And although I found it therapeutic and it mimicked various key movements of a profession massage, it clearly is no substitute for the real thing and Una recognises that.

But in the absence of regular massages, it really is a pleasant tool that feels like a mini pampering sessions.

The Kneader is available on Amazon for £25 from www.kneadsmust.com or through Amazon.

Words By Sabi Phagura